One that desires to excel should endeavor in those things that are in themselves most excellent. Epictetus
Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire. Epictetus
No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen. Epictetus
If virtue promises happiness, prosperity and peace, then progress in virtue is progress in each of these for to whatever point the perfection of anything brings us, progress is always an approach toward it. Epictetus
The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests. Epictetus
It is not he who reviles or strikes you who insults you, but your opinion that these things are insulting. Epictetus